Sachi no Shageki Hoshi
by Choctaw-chan
Summary: Finding out secrets and becoming closer is the key to overcoming any and all challenges set in the way. [YohHao] [HoroRen]
1. Chapter One

S a c h i n o S h a g e k i H o s h i

By Choctaw-chan

Disclaimer: Shaman King is not mine.

Summary: Finding out secrets and becoming closer is the key to overcoming any and all challenges set in the way. YohHao HoroRen

(The characters will be OOC, just to fit the story better. This takes place a year after the unfinished Shaman Tournament.)

A/N: Yaoi; male/male romantic and sexual relationships. Don't like, don't read. Don't say I haven't warned you.

-

Heaving a sigh, Asakura Hao watched his brother roll an orange around on the picnic table. Deftly keeping out of sight, he shifted uncomfortably from his previous position on the roof; vaulting silently to a near by Sakura tree. He paused slightly, reaching up to pluck a cherry blossom from the newly blooming branches.

Bringing it delicately to his sight, he twirled it quietly; accidentally dropping it. He glanced upward. So many more tiny flowers to pick and spin for amusement. More blossoms for another opportunity to do the same activity as before.

Another opportunity?

Another chance?

Why couldn't he have another chance? Why wouldn't he be forgiven? He had admitted his mistake, and willingly accepted a beating from Yohmei's spirits. He tried to prove he was sorry countless times.

He looked down at his little brother.

"_Funga fu fu_."

A smile tugged at the corners of the elder twin's lips, though refusing to do so.

Immediately, Hao felt eyes peering up at him. It felt like the gaze was forcing itself into his soul; his very being. He tensed slightly, hearing the familiar voice of his Otouto.

"Onii-chan?" The younger shaman called up to him. "What are you doing here?"

Silence.

Hao wouldn't speak. Maybe if he stayed quiet, Yoh would believe he was imagining things...

"I know you're there, Hao."

Hao shifted out of the ebony shadows to face his brother. His mouth, forming a thin, slightly troubled line. Not saying anything, he just continued to glance down at his brother. Yoh only stared up at him, worry etched on his face. Finally frowning, Yoh inquired: "What's wrong, Onii-chan?"

Gaze hardening slightly, Hao stayed still. "Nothing." He replied, denying the truth. Shifting to the right slightly, he added. "What's the harm in coming here…?"

Yoh frowned at the uncertainty in his brother's voice. He didn't want to push Hao away. Gently attempting to coax the longhaired shaman to come down from the tree, he whispered, "Onii-chan, come down please?" Knowing Hao would require a reason for his decision, like always, he added, "So I can talk to you face to face."

Hao, still refusing to budge only failed to respond to that. He did not wish to have his emotions, tampered with more. Ever since he'd lost the Shaman Fight and apologized to everyone, he had been having uncertainties with trust, and how to deal with his now surging emotions, which he still continued to hide, despite the fact his eyes betrayed how he felt.

"Onegai?" Yoh pleaded softly. He could tell Hao's mind was in turmoil currently. He knew the emotions his brother were feeling, were new, and possibly even a bit scary. He only wanted to help, however. He wanted to accept Hao, though he believed fully that his brother sustained the thought of him holding contempt toward his Onii-chan.

Hao cautiously jumped down from the tree branch. Landing a few feet away from Yoh, he kept his distance. His desire for space, nixed however.

Yoh walked up to Hao, placing a shoulder on his brother's arm, causing him to twitch. The younger shaman frowned slightly at the effect a mere hand on a shoulder had on his twin.

Slowly moving out of Yoh's reach, Hao sighed. Not being used to, much physical contact, he would be a bit…jumpy, shall we say?

Yoh, again, frowned. "Alright, I won't touch you."

Again, silence.

"How have you been?" Upon seeing his brother shift position once more, he could tell his brother had a gaping wound in his side. Though it was not bleeding, it probably had to be pretty painful…Yoh winced in sympathy.

"Fine. " Hao answered with a semi-monotonous voice.

"Stop _lying_."

Flinching, Hao denied it. "I'm not."

"You have a wound in your side; it _has_ to be painful!" Yoh tried to reason. He only wanted to help, he only wanted Hao to tell him the truth…

Hao felt his reserve crumble under Yoh's distress. "It…_is_ painful." Hao muttered.

Yoh sighed. "Can I help you?"

Hao only glanced at the ground. Confirming a positive answer, he nodded his head slightly. Yoh maneuvered closer to his brother slowly, hoping he wouldn't stress his brother too much by doing something he wasn't used to.

Looking Hao straight in the eye, Yoh grinned. "Everything will be alright, Onii-chan." He said. He directed his brother to the entrance of the Onsens. A bit reluctant to follow further into the Inn, Hao looked back a split-second, before following Yoh once again.

The younger shaman almost dragged Hao into his bedroom, telling him to sit down on the bed. Hao did as he was instructed and sighed.

"I'll be right back." Yoh disembarked from the small room, leaving Hao to look at the stuff surrounding him. A bunch of CD's filling five consecutive shelves on the wall completely. The older boy stood up, plucked one from a shelf and fingered the glossy cover gently. He turned it over in his hand. _BobLove_, it read.

Hao placed down the CD and sat back down on the bed. Glancing at everything else until his brother came back with the First Aid kit.

"Back!" Yoh announced happily.

Hao raised an eyebrow lightly. Yoh laughed sheepishly when his brother gave him that odd look.

Hao merely rolled his eyes in response. Yoh frowned again. "Why are you so tense?" He asked.

Hao ignored the question. Frown deepening, Yoh reached into the kit and pulled out disinfectant and a sterilized cloth. Faust had taught him to do all of this a few months ago, after he'd hurt his knee, running his twenty-mile jog.

Twitching as Yoh sprayed the stinging solution onto his side, Hao growled softly in annoyance.

Bringing the cloth to his brother's skin, Yoh gently rubbed the solution deeper into the wound, then drying the alcoholic-smelling liquid from Hao's side. Hao twitched again. "You don't seem the type, but you aren't used to being touched, are you?" Yoh asked curiously, yet serious.

Side glancing at Yoh, Hao shook his head just barely. "No." was the quiet reply.

In Yoh's opinion, Hao always seemed to be rough with everyone around him. Though, he'd never actually seen anyone even dare to go near enough to him to actually reach out and touch him, except Opacho…So, assuming Hao had familiarity with being touched is what just automatically fixed itself in his, and most likely, everyone else's minds'. Looks and actions could be _very_ deceiving.

Yoh began to wrap pale creamy-colored gauze around his brother's lower abdomen, doing it slowly, again, to assure his brother that he wasn't going to hurt him, though he knew Hao knew he wouldn't. At least, he thought that to be true.

Once finished, Yoh moved back slightly, eyeing his work to make sure he'd done it correctly. Pleased with it, he sat back down, next to Hao.

Attempting to get Hao to relax, he began to gently rub his brother's left upper arm, earning the younger brunette a few twitches. "You never really did answer my question."

"Which one?" Hao asked, slightly sarcastically, watching Yoh rub his arm. He'd always associated touch with harm…Thanks to his original father. Though he did find this slightly soothing in a way.

Yoh smiled when he felt Hao begin to relax. "Why did you come here?" He repeated his former question.

"I…" Hao glanced downward. "I came to ask forgiveness."

Yoh's smile widened a bit at that.

Not looking up at his twin, and only acknowledging the silence, Hao sighed in a slightly defeated manner. "Though, I guess I'm not going to get it."

Yoh frowned. "Keep eye contact, and perhaps you'd realize you've been forgiven already." Yoh stated quietly.

Hao's attention was, caught by this. "But, Yohmei…"

"I'm not Jii-chan, am I?" Yoh asked.

Hao shook his head, quietly.

"Then, you're forgiven." Yoh repeated.

Another smile pulled at the corner of Hao's mouth, but he suppressed it. He nodded again, standing up.

"Where are you going?" Yoh asked, a little surprised by this sudden action of Hao's.

"Back to camp." Came the worn out reply.

Yoh sighed. "Come back soon?" He asked pleadingly.

Hao gave him a small, quizzical look before agreeing. "Of course."

Yoh grinned before letting his brother go.

Giving his Otouto a small smile, he left into the dusk. He planned on coming back, if he was allowed. He'd been dying for acceptance for a while. At least one person gave it to him, and that's all he needed.

Some happiness returned into his life.

Maybe tomorrow he'd come back. As long as the bossy Itako, and the strict grandparents were no where close to the Onsens, that's was the only condition to his visits.

_Sayonara Otouto, I'll be back soon. Promise._

-

I hope you enjoyed the first part. I was planning on making it multi-chaptered, and actually stick to it until it's done. If I do, I promise I will finish it. This will be a bit OOC, just to inform you.


	2. Chapter Two

S a c h i n o S h a g e k i H o s h i

Chapter Two

By Choctaw-chan

Disclaimer: Shaman King is **not** mine.

A/N: Yaoi; male/male romantic and sexual relationships. Don't like, don't read. Don't say I haven't warned you. (putting this up _again_, just to reinforce my point)

**A/N: Basil will be in this. He's the guy who has the spirit with the mirror on its stomach, (I actually believe his spirit was a steel spirit) and he was killed by the X-Laws.**

-

SORRY FOR THE SLOW UPDATE. I HAD VACATION HOMEWORK. –Cries-

KimBob- Here's your HoroRen-ness. :3;

Azalee- Arigatou! Here's your update. : )

ArtGirlsPwn- Idiot, I know you're not Edo:P I'll talk to you on AIM, Otouto. And don't read the fic, if you don't like Yaoi. PS. You ARE a monkey. :D

Strife-lover- Here's your update, Lee-chan!

Haolover9312- Here's your update, and please get on AIM more. –cry- I miss you.

-

Sitting at the kitchen table, eating his breakfast, and having a staring contest with an orange, Yoh grinned when he heard Ren chasing after HoroHoro with his Kwan Dao.

"Horokeu Usui!" An angered voice raged throughout the Onsens. "Stay _out_ of my room!" Next came the sixteen-year-old Ainu boy rushing to get away from a certain, fuming Chinese shaman.

"Ahh, Ren! Stop, I only came in to tell you breakfast was ready!" Horo defended, quickly putting the kitchen table between the two.

Yoh turned to watch them. Lately, The causes of these brawls had become more personal.

Horo would actually go into Ren's room and wake the Chinese boy. Ren however, hadn't really insulted Horo with anything more personal than the usual putdowns. The way Horo dared to sit on top of Ren's stomach until he woke up, only lead Yoh to believe there was something going on. Ren was denying it when asked, only continuing to every morning: wake up, grab his Kwan Dao, and chase Horo around, swinging his weapon randomly at the bluenette.

"You were _this_ close to my face, _this _close!" Ren pinched his thumb and index fingers together, trying to emphasize his point.

Horo only snorted, looking away almost guiltily.

"Hah!" Ren exclaimed, turning to leave.

Yoh held a laugh back, when the Ainu latched around Ren's waist, preventing the other from leaving. "Horo-Horo, detach yourself at once!"

Horo-Horo shook his head, his grip tightening for no reason, burying his head in Ren's lower back.

**_THWACK!_**

The bluenette landed on his butt on the kitchen floor, as an even more pissed off Ren, left the room. Yoh snickered slightly at the sudden, and unexpected display of affection, that earned Horo a knock on the head.

Horo pouted. He really liked Ren, but… he wasn't sure how Ren would react to the news, and he'd possibly have to tell his parents about it, but they probably wouldn't take it so well, either. If anyone out of the three people, Ren would understand the situation more, and not his parents.

So, the Ainu stayed in denial. He'd been told before, that being in denial wasn't a good thing, but he didn't want to lose the Chinese shaman as a friend.

Horo stood, and headed outside. He'd put off the issue until later, when he could actually conjure up the courage to confess to Ren, about how he felt.

Yoh sighed. It had been a couple days since Hao had come, and asked forgiveness. He'd also promised to come back and visit. Frowning, Yoh cupped his cheek with his hand.

Maybe Hao wouldn't come because everyone else was here. Maybe he thought they hated him. Yoh shrugged to himself.

"Asakura Yoh!" A certain Itako's voice echoed in his ears. He jumped off his chair, standing at perfect attention like a soldier. The blond girl only rolled her eyes at that.

"Time for your forty-mile jog." She told him. "And no slacking off!"

She hustled him outside. "Also, don't come back until you find this piece of rice!"

Yoh groaned at this task. His father had made him and his friends complete the same task before, during the Shaman Tournament, to ready him for his fight with Hao.

Anna handed the grain of rice to one of her Shikigami and it disappeared with it. She repeated herself. "Don't come back without it."

"Aye Aye, capie-tan." Yoh saluted and jogged off.

-

Yoh looked around. He was about ten miles from the onsens, so he had decided to look around for the rice. Anna wouldn't have hidden it closer to the onsens, and that was a safe bet.

"Rice grain, where are you?" Yoh called.

"_Idiot._"

Yoh turned around. He saw a boy around his age, with shoulder length black hair and green eyes standing there. He'd seen the boy before, but he couldn't recall where…

"Well Asakura Yoh, you're still doing those pitiful tasks your fiancée plans, hmm?"

Yoh wanted to ask who the boy was, but he felt a random, slight anger, for the boy sounded… "Quit talking like Onii-chan." He said firmly. _Where did that come from…?_ Yoh's eyes widened slightly.

"Well at least you figured out who I work for. Just try and decipher my name this time." The boy held a smug look on his face.

Yoh remembered. The boy's name was Basil, but since one of Hao's comrades was near by, then he must be too, and that all he cared about. "Where's Onii-chan?" He asked.

"Why is Hao-sama the only thing you care about right now?" Basil grumbled. "Didn't you come to find this, anyway?" Basil held up a grain of rice.

Yoh's eyes lit. "Thanks for finding-"

Basil crushed it between his them and index finger. "Ah, sorry." A smirk spread across his face. Yoh sent him a glare. He didn't like Basil at all.

"At least take me to your camp, or wherever you are staying…" Yoh asked.

"I guess it couldn't do much harm." Basil thought out loud. Yoh's face lit up a bit. "Come on." Basil started to walk off. Yoh hurriedly followed behind.

-

"Ren, I'm sorry!" Horo called for the Chinese shaman. He was feeling extremely lonely and he regretted that he had hugged Ren like that. The bluenette looked around. No Ren…

"Where are you…?" Horo whispered to himself.

Ren was sitting in a tree, staring towards the yard. "Bason, I don't get it…"

"He loves you." The warlord said quickly.

"I know that!" Ren growled. He crossed his arms over his chest, angrily. "You're not helping."

Bason floated around the tree in circles. He didn't want to leave his master's side, but he was so bored.

"I don't understand how he could _love_ me after all the torture I put him through." Ren finished his earlier statement.

"Well, I do."

Ren twitched, looking down from the tree. There stood the Ainu of the moment. The Chinese boy lept from the tree, heading off.

"Stop running away from me." Horo's tone was serious. He caught onto Ren's wrist.

Ren turned to face Horo. "Let me go, Ainu-baka!"

"I won't." Horo insisted for the boy with the tongari to stay put.

"I need to say this again." Horo said, looking into Ren's eyes, he saw the boy falter a little. "Aishiteru."

Horo planted a light kiss on Ren's lips. The said boy, leaned slightly into the kiss, but he quickly caught himself, and moved away. Horo looked hurt.

His mind was screaming for him to say what he'd always said in a situation like this. _A Tao was never taught to love_. It never came out.

"I love you too."

-

A white wolf growled.

Chocolate eyes met with amber ones.

Yoh's eyes widened, his mouth opened a little. "I won't hurt you, and you won't hurt me, ne?" He said quietly to the wolf.

Basil had left him a while ago, to wander off on his own. The wolf didn't relax. Yoh had a feeling he was close to Hao's camp, but he wasn't sure.

He edged around, trying slowly to walk past the angry canine. He didn't want to upset him more.

"Shh, I'm not going to hurt you…"

Without thinking, he started to run. The wolf chased after him.

With a 'thud', Yoh was forced to the ground, a wrinkled, white muzzle in his face, growling lowly, teeth shinning.

The wolf opened it's mouth wider, bringing its face closer to Yoh's.

"Cha-Ookami, leave my brother alone!"

The wolf looked up, pausing. Yoh rolled over as best he could. The younger shaman stared up at his brother. "You're upside down, Onii-chan."

Hao raised a delicate eyebrow. "I'm not, you are."

Yoh pushed the wolf off of him and stood up. That earned him a growl.

"Kipcha, quit it!" Hao ordered. The wolf shut up.

Yoh looked from his brother to the wolf, and back again. "Why was he chasing and trying to kill me?"

"You were entering our camp. Kipcha was only being protective." Hao gave a light laugh. "Kipcha's a girl, anyway."

Kipcha raised her head proudly.

Yoh only had a faint blush creep over his cheeks slightly. "Gomen, Ookami-san." He muttered.

"Well, why are you here, Yoh?" Hao asked curiously.

"Huh?" Yoh blinked. "I just felt like visiting."

Hao gave a slight, barely noticable nod. "I'm sorry. I haven't come to visit you like I said I would…"

Yoh blinked.

"I've been..." Hao sighed. "Busy, I suppose."

"It's alright. I just wanted to know that you were okay." Yoh gave a grin. He had a feeling something was wrong though, but he brushed that feeling aside upon seeing his brother give him a grin.

"Oh yeah," Yoh exclaimed, causing Hao to look puzzled. "Do you have a grain of rice?"

"…That's an odd question, Otouto." Hao commented. "Why?"

"Anna's gonna kill me if I don't come back with the grain of rice that she had her shikigami throw into the middle of nowhere which are really your shikigami and told me I couldn't come back until I found it and then Basil crushed it and now I need a new one!" Yoh finished, breathing hard.

Hao merely blinked. "Pausing every once in a while, might help you not be so out of breath, Otouto." Hao said, amused.

"You're not helping me, Hao!" Yoh pouted.

"Sorry, but I don't have rice at camp."

Yoh began to run around. "WHAT AM I GOING TO DOOOOO!"

"We can go buy some, however." Hao said.

Yoh stopped running, and grinned. "Of course we can!" He grabbed Hao's arm and marched off, dragging his brother with him. "Let's go!"

-

"He's been gone for way to long." Anna said, waiting for Amidamaru and Manta to listen. However, neither were listening.

"Yoh-dono seemed slightly depressed since a couple days ago." The samurai spirit commented.

"Do you think something happened?" Manta asked.

"I do. I just don't know what."

Anna eavesdropped a bit before wanting to know what was going on. "Go make dinner Manta, I need to talk to Amidamaru."

Manta nodded, leaving to the kitchen, to help Ryu cook.

"What were you saying before, Amidamaru?" Anna asked.

"Well, Manta-kun and I were conversing, and we both thought Yoh-dono seemed a bit…distracted."

"I've noticed too, but he's always distracted." Anna uttered.

Amidamaru shrugged. "He seemed more _worried_ about something, rather than distracted, actually."

"I see." Anna nodded. "At least it a change from the random mood swings and depression moments, that had been happening after the end of the Shaman Tournament…"

The spirit nodded. "It appears so."

-

"Do you really mean that Ren?" Horo asked. The common saying: _A Tao was never taught to love_, played through his head.

The Chinese boy nodded, almost timidly. He didn't want to be hurt again, like he had been in the past. That's why he pushed Horo away.

Horo searched the other boy's eyes for the truth, which they held, but they also held a splinter of fear and hurt. And hope, as well. "What's wrong, Ren?"

Ren looked down slightly. "Nothing. Don't worry about it." Starting to leave Horo's loose embrace, he turned.

Arm's wrapped around his waist, restraining him from going any further, however. "Of course I'm going to worry, Ren."

Ren didn't turn around to face the Ainu however. "I-I'm sorry, but…"

"Ren, what are you afraid of?" Horo asked quietly.

Saffron eyes widened slightly. "I'm afraid of nothing."

"Please tell me the truth."

"I'm…" Ren paused. "It's nothing."

"You're afraid of being hurt, aren't you?"

Though the Chinese boy didn't say it, exactly, his eyes betrayed it.

"I'll never hurt you. I'll never try to. I promise you that."

-

Well, there's the second chapter that took so long to update. Hope you enjoyed. Read and Review. : )

Cha-Ookami- "_Cha_" is an affectionate nickname Hao calls the wolf. "_Ookami_" means "_wolf_" in Japanese. (Hao also calls her, "_Cha-chan_".)


	3. Chapter Three

S a c h i n o S h a g e k i H o s h i

Chapter Three

By Choctaw-chan

Disclaimer: Shaman King is **still** not mine. _Kipcha (the wolf)_ **is** mine

however, no stealing.

**Yaoi**, don't like, don't read. Simple as that.

**A/N: …I'm going to refer to Basil as "Ashil" now, because, before, I'd forgotten what his real name was.**

MeeLee- I know, it sounds like "cha-ching" but she's based off my dog. "Cha-chan" Came from one of my friend's nick names. (Cha-Cha-Chan; don't ask…)

Strife-lover- Lee-chan, I'm soooooo sorry. And, Glad you liked the chapter. –clinglatchneverletgo-

Kya-san- glad you like.

DragonStorm85- Thank you. : )

Chonki- Lemon later? If people want me to write one, I will. And of course, I'll give you some help. Just email me.

"Otouto, we aren't here to pick out a gift for your fiancée. Just get the stupid rice, and let's go!" Hao was becoming impatient.

Yoh ignored his brother and continued to look for a necklace that Anna, in the slightest chance, might like. "Onii-chan, come help me choose between this one, this one and this one, onegai."

Hao made his way over to where Yoh was, involuntarily. "It doesn't matter." Hao growled in annoyance. "Just pick one and lets get going!"

The younger twin pouted. "Just help, please?"

The one thousand year old Onmyouji sighed. "Fine, just let's hurry up." Hao looked at the necklaces.

A gold one with an amber jewel on it, in the middle. A silver chain necklace with a large Sapphire in the middle, surrounded by diamonds, or a plain gold necklace, with a soul emerald dangling from a delicate chain, off of it.

"Well?" Asked Yoh.

"She's **your** fiancée." Hao complained.

"But I need help!"

"The gold one with the emerald." Hao said, quickly turning to leave. He didn't want to go shopping for jewelry for his brother's pushy, and demanding future wife.

Yoh paid the clerk and hurried after his brother. "I think she'll like it." He stated happily with a big grin, plastered on his face.

"Glad to have helped." Hao did not turn to face his brother, nor did even the smallest grin twitch at the corner of his mouth. Yoh frowned. He was sure that Hao would have smiled or looked at him.

"What's wrong?"

The older twin wasn't sure. It was odd. There was this hot, anger-like feeling building up slightly inside him. "Nothing." He decided to answer.

Yoh's frown grew slightly. Something _was_ wrong with Hao. He'd leave the situation alone for now, however.

"Let's go get ice cream, ne?" Yoh grinned again.

"You need to get rice, remember?"

"I've got it already, I bought it with the necklace." Yoh's grin widened. He grabbed Hao's wrist and dragged him off to the ice cream parlor.

Hao groaned. He didn't need to be getting ice cream, and he _certainly_ did not want to baby sit his soon to be overly sugar-high twin.

The older twin just stood stationary in the corner of the shop. No ice cream for him. No.

"Orange Sherbert please!"

Hao rolled his eyes. His little brother even had a _word _used especially for oranges.

_Funga fu fu._

"Onii-chan," Yoh looked over at him with a huge grin plastered over his features. "Come buy some ice cream." The older twin just shook his head 'no'. Yoh frowned. "Why not?"

"I'm just not hungry." Hao replied.

'Mm…Alright Onii-chan." Yoh was sure something was still bothering his brother, but again, he'd drop the issue. It couldn't be that bad. Hao could handle anything. Right…?

The younger brunette turned to face his brother, but noticed he wasn't there, and that he had started to head away from the ice cream shop. Yoh quickly followed after him. "Hao, wait!" He called.

Hao came to a halt and turned three-quarters to the side. He sighed. He did as Yoh wanted, and waited.

Yoh had a sudden urge to tell his brother something, but he wasn't sure if he should or not. It could possibly drive his brother away, and he didn't want that.

-

Ren wasn't sure if Horo could keep his promise. He did love the Ainu back, but he wasn't sure he could give it a try and have it succeed. He always managed to mess a plan up.

Warm fingers slid under his chin, pulling it up slightly to look into azure eyes. "What's wrong Ren?"

"Nothin—"

"Don't lie to me again." The Ainu's voice was stern, but kind at

the same moment. Horo paused when he saw Ren falter, and he looked to the side somewhat. He then frowned. "What did I have to do, to gain your complete trust?" He asked quietly.

Ren paused. "You have it…"

"Then why can't you tell me what's wrong?" Horo then pulled the Chinese boy into a loose, warm hug. "You can tell me anything."

"I…just don't want to be hurt again…" Ren said quietly.

"You know I won't try to hurt you." Horo uttered soothingly. "And I won't leave you, when you need me."

"I know." Ren nodded, his head buried in Horo's chest at this point.

"You know, I want to know the real you." Horo voiced calmly, rubbing rhythmic circles on Ren's back.

Ren paused at his statement, before turning his head to the side, though it continued to remain resting on the Ainu's chest lightly. "You know the real me." Ren muttered.

"I mean like your emotions. I want to know how you feel." Horo's grip on the smaller boy tightened slightly.

"I'm happy, I suppose…"

"I'm glad you're happy, but, when you don't tell me how you're feeling, I don't know if you alright or not. If something's wrong." Horo explained. "If you feel like crying, cry. If you feel like smiling and being happy, smile." He sighed.

The Chinese shaman merely nodded into the bluenette's chest again.

-

The twins had been walking in silence for a while. It was a bit awkward to the older brunette, because his little brother always seemed so hyper, carefree, and you couldn't really get him to shut up when he was in that kind of mood.

Deep in thought, Yoh continued to walk until he tripped over a rock, and pulled Hao with him, down to the ground with a 'thud'.

He pushed himself off the ground, giving his older brother a sheepish grin. "Sorry, Onii-chan."

Hao sat up, rubbing his head. He muttered before confirming to his brother that his blunder was all right. "Don't worry about it."

Yoh stood up, almost immediately tripping over himself again. _Stop making a fool of yourself, Yoh_… He told reprimanded himself.

Hao frowned. "What's the matter, Otouto?"

"N-nothing." He gave a reassuring grin. Hao didn't buy it.

"Tell me." Hao tried again, to coax it out of his brother.

Yoh wasn't sure if he should tell his twin that he loved him. For all he knew, Hao could think he was annoying, and never want to hang out with him again. But, perhaps he could try Horo-Horo's approach.

Hao leaned back a bit when his twin crawled over him, leaning against his chest, and lightly captured his lips in a gentle, soft kiss.

The older boy was completely taken by surprise. He didn't move, however.

Yoh remained pressed against his older twin's chest, as he looked up at Hao. "I-I love you." He waited eagerly for Hao's reaction.

-

Ren had fallen asleep against the older Ainu boy. Horokeu held him closely, in his arms. He loved Ren. He would protect him. He would do anything to make him safe. He smiled gently at the Chinese boy.

Ren's breaths were light, and short. Horo noted a little bit on the semi-choppiness of it. He stood up, Ren in his arm, and carried the boy to his room.

He gently laid him down on his bed, and pulled the covers up to Ren's chin. He grinned and headed to the kitchen, feet quietly padding the wooden floor.

He'd make something for Ren, for when he woke up.

-

A fleeting half smile played in the older twin's features. "Sou kaa?"

Yoh nodded, face still flushed considerably. "Really."

"A-aishiteru, Yoh."

With those words spoken, Yoh's grip on his brother's mantle tightened; not wanting to let him go. He pulled his brother close to him again, once more locking lips a bit roughly and demanding, but hell, Yoh had wanted to do that for a little while.

Hao twitched slightly.

Yoh blinked in confusion. Oh yeah, his brother wasn't used to being touched, and most likely not in this way. He softened the kiss, to reassure his brother, soon parting.

"Sorry…" Yoh muttered.

"It's all right." Was the reply.

Yoh cuddled into his brother's chest. Letting go of a content sigh, when he felt his brother stroke his hair gently. A light smile played on the younger boy's lips. So, His brother could still love. And Yoh was glad he could.

Ugh, chapters may take a while to write and update, because school is finishing with in the next month, so school is hell for me, and it's affecting my writing. Gah. Please forgive me. X.x


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